After the 7.7 magnitude earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş, statements continue to come. An important statement was also made for İzmir, which is an earthquake zone. prof. Dr. Ahmet Övgün Ercan made statements about İzmir. prof. Ercan stated that there will not be an earthquake of 7.5 and above in İzmir, as in Kahramanmaraş, and underlined that precautions should be taken as if there would be a severe earthquake.
Speaking at the Economics Congress of the Second Century, geophysical engineer Prof. Dr. Ahmet Övgün Ercan stated that the statement that there may be an earthquake in İzmir at any time is not true and said, “Earthquakes up to 6 and a half magnitudes are not destructive in İzmir. There will never be earthquakes of 7.5 and above in İzmir as in Kahramanmaraş. However, we need to prepare the city as if there will be an earthquake of this magnitude,” he said.
‘TURKEY IS THE COUNTRY OF EARTHQUAKE’
Noting that what he saw in Kahramanmaraş reflects the battlefield, Ercan said, “Turkey will definitely overcome this, but it will take years. Turkey is an earthquake country. If earthquakes do not happen one day, it means that the ground has lost its vitality. Then there is no life. We have always been interested in the fear dimension of the earthquake. An earthquake has three components. Concussion, heat and light. I have been dealing with science for 60 years. I’ve never seen a mistake as much as the head of a pin. Because if there was no earthquake, there would be no Meles Plain, there would be no Gediz River. There would be no geothermal fields in Manisa or Aydın. There would be no spring waters. There would be no mineral deposits, no oil fields, no mountains, no forests. It would not be the Aegean, where the most beautiful figs come from and olives grow. Earthquakes always do these and shape the ground. We see earthquakes as a bogeyman. The fault is not in the earthquake. “There was an earthquake without human beings,” he said.
‘THE BIGGEST DESTRUCTION HAS HAPPENED IN AGRICULTURAL AREAS’
Showing Turkey’s ground strength and earthquake-affected areas on the map, Ercan said, “We know where and what size earthquakes will occur, but we do not know when. Kahramanmaraş earthquake caused the greatest destruction in agricultural areas. There is such a balance in nature that you can forgive yourself from the peace of zoning, if you are illegal, they may ignore it, but nature will never forgive. Nature destroys the structures built in agricultural areas one day. Earthquake is a technical, scientific subject. This cannot be explained by religion, by destiny, it cannot be explained.”
‘There are 3 issues that turn the earthquake into a disaster’
Emphasizing that if the roads become unusable in a possible earthquake in İzmir, the chance of survival will decrease very little. There are three issues that turn the earthquake into a disaster. Incompetent governments, poor economy and poverty and low level of education. If one of these happened in the country, the name of the earthquake is a disaster. In Turkey, on February 6, not one, but three of them took place,” he said.
‘WE NEED TO PREPARE IZMIR AS IF THERE WAS A 7.2 SIZE EARTHQUAKE’
Saying, “Talented people need to manage Turkey,” Ercan gave information about the earthquakes in Izmir’s past. Ercan said, “Earthquake has a law. If an earthquake of a certain magnitude has occurred in a place, there will be an earthquake of at least that magnitude in that place in the future. This is called the law of earthquake. Earthquakes do not occur very often in Izmir. It occurs approximately every 200 to 350 years. We need to prepare İzmir as if there will be an earthquake of 7.2 at any moment. But the statement that there may be an earthquake in Izmir at any moment is not true. Earthquakes up to a magnitude of 6 and a half are not destructive in İzmir. After half past 6 it starts to become destructive. “There will never be 7.5, 7.6, 7.9 earthquakes in İzmir like in Kahramanmaraş,” he said.
